Meanings
verboverstare (third-person singular simple present overstares, present participle overstaring, simple past and past participle overstared)
present singular third person overstares · participle present overstaring · participle past overstared · past overstared
- obsoleteTo stare wildly.
an overstaring frounced head
a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC - obsoleteTo outstare.
I would o'erstare the sternest eyes that look
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
overstare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstare
MLA
“overstare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstare. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overstare,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstare.
Source: overstare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.